build costs

[gigpiglet]

as you guys probably know, i am just finishing up a new room here at GPHQ
i also late last year built a room for a friend in perth that was a similar size/ function.
not talking grand plans or massive commercial facilities here - just a good solid properly build soundproof to a professional level room. with aircon and some acoustic treatment/ wiring/ etc.

previously i have just built, and spent what i spent, with an "idea" but no real accurate budget.
my build a few years ago here was 50k ish... the ish might be give or take 10k. but it was what it was.

with sloanworld in perth, being for someone else, i had to price it accurately.
i came out at 25k... and he said we went "a little over"

for the new room here, i am finishing up, and kept good records as i went in excel, and im just nudging 30k.

both of these are with some pro labour (but at mates rates) and a lot of DIY (though not totally embarking on a solo project)

point is - as people ask all the time. to build something "decent"
that keeps the noise in (or out) depending on what you are trying to achieve.
you are looking at between 20 and 30 thousand bucks.

just putting it out there as a ballpark now that i have hit that number accurately twice in a row.
thats what its going to cost you to get into it!

[stosostu]

That concurs with my experience. I am about half way through building my home studio that comprises a control room, studio, vocal booth and drum room, plus a couple of small storage rooms, in total around 100 sq mts of floor space. I am building evrything myself and with free help from friends, using recycled materials where possible, buying timber at auctions, and using a trade account at the building supply warehouse. The cost is still not finalised. but I would estimate around $60k, just for materials.

[Kurt]

100 square metres is a hell of a home studio! I'm looking at trying to do one around 35 square metres (pretty much a "biggish" single garage)

[mylesgm]

wish I could tell you what we are spending here in Swaziland for a 30sqm studio... I'll be putting up build pics soon.

[rick]

I dont understand this costing equation..
the real equation is it will cost everything you have .. everytime
plus 20 % -300 % more to have done it properly

[seancook]

with that equation Rick I'm glad my pockets aren't too deep!

[Sammas]

with that equation Rick I'm glad my pockets aren't too deep!

Yeah! It looks like there is an upside to being skint!

[stosostu]

100 square metres is a hell of a home studio!

Well, let me be more precise. The building is 12m x 8m, so 96 sq m. BUT, the insulation and wall conditioning will cost me about 300mm on all sides, so the inside measurement is more like 11.4 x 7.4, so 86.6 sq m. Then there's the space lost in walls which adds up to about the 6.6 sq m, so I will end up with around 80 sq m of useable space, of which 25 sq m is the control room, 3 sq m is the vocal booth, 11 sq m is the drum room, the entrance, office/storage space is about 10 sq m, which leaves the studio at around 31 sq m, which is not a really large area.

And, as Rick says, it will need to be fixed 'professionally', once I have finished, because I will have done it all wrong, even after the hundreds of hours of research I did before I started...............

[Alastair Reynolds]

The Rule of thumb cost I used for our Radio Studios, professionally built and finished is about $1000 per square metre, seems to work. Mates rates and your own labour can reduce this, but price it with labour at a realistic rate.

[gigpiglet]

totally agree with all the above..
and kurts project of a single garage is exactly the kind of thing i was referring to - people asking - so i want to build a room, how much will it cost?
my point was - keeping it simple - you are certainly going to spend over 20k
there are no 5k studios... even home ones

and bob - your place sounds cool.
rather similar to GPHQ (but now we have studio two aswel!)

[Manning]

My 1.8 by 2.4m Isolation booth came in at a little under $7K, excluding any labour costs. Acoustic treatment was nearly $2K, (and that included scoring a tasty deal on eBay).

[stosostu]

Floor plan, for anyone that is interested:

[gigpiglet]

hey bob... you started building yet?

[gigpiglet]

and further to alastairs comment - 1000/ sqm
if i take the whole studio into account (not just the new room)
then I'm somewhere around 80 grand, for somewhere around 90sqm.

so looks like thats about bang on!

i love it when people concur.

[stosostu]

hey bob... you started building yet?

Yes, I have almost completed the outer wall insulation and gyprock, then it is on to the inner rooms which are all free standing, isolated from each other and the outside world.

[mylesgm]

you can see some pics from our ongoing build in my blog. freestanding walls, two separate rooms, soffit mounted speakers (kind of), split room aircon system etc. All built from locally sourced materials (some compromises here) and all with local labour, working to upskill the locals so that they'll be equipped to build studios in the future.

www.mylesinswaziland.tumblr.com

[ChrisW]

Great thread.
I wish it had been around when I bought my place seven years ago.
I eventually figured on around $80k, and that was for drum tracking, not a one room midi facility.
In my area that $80k adds zero value to the property itself, so I reluctantly passed.

[gigpiglet]

dont worry mate...
in my area that 80k adds zero to my property
probably even takes away from it!

but i figure when (if) i ever sell this beast... the value will be so high/ so much more than i paid for it (waterloo/ redfern over 10 years ago) that whoever buys it will just demo it anyway.

[stosostu]

in my area that 80k adds zero to my property

Plus one on that, in fact I'd guess having a recording studio on my rural block will be a liability, if I ever sell. However, the point is, I want it and I'm here for a good time, not a long time.

[ChrisW]

Yep to the last two posts.
My property has already gone down in value over the last 6 years. Yes, any studio would be more of a liability than a positive. And I'd have to see $80k of income from the room to offset the set up costs, between $0 and $80k you are working for free.
At 54 yrs old, in Oz, in the current industry climate, that bottom line is borderline achievable IMO. Some excellent online drummers charge $50 a song.
Not saying $80k on a home studio is a waste of money, just saying it's always good to do a cost vs benefit analysis..... unless it's just something you really want to do.

[Wiz]

Yep to the last two posts.
My property has already gone down in value over the last 6 years. Yes, any studio would be more of a liability than a positive. And I'd have to see $80k of income from the room to offset the set up costs, between $0 and $80k you are working for free.
At 54 yrs old, in Oz, in the current industry climate, that bottom line is borderline achievable IMO. Some excellent online drummers charge $50 a song.
Not saying $80k on a home studio is a waste of money, just saying it's always good to do a cost vs benefit analysis..... unless it's just something you really want to do.

What i did, was move north, Had to for health reasons, but basically when you own everything outright (house and studio), its easier and far less stressful to make a living from music.

I do miss the restaurants in Melbourne though 8)

For me when building my place, it was cheaper, cause I didnt worry about sound proofing, per se, only sound within the room.

I keep my noise making to a minimum and only during business hours, neighbours are at work, and then the noisiest thing is drums, and they are never done more than maybe 30 mins in a day, I usually do three passes at something then I am done.

I only do drums here for myself, clients are always guitar and singing and mainly mixing.

When someone is playing and singing or I am mixing, you cant really hear it outside the studio. I just operate at sensible hours, really mostly during the day and not much on weekends. I had my studio going for a couple of years and talked to a neighbour and they had no idea I had one... so its working.

[Drumstruck]

Too true Chris - esp. those online drummers - that is so cheap.

Do you guys consider making things relocatable when you build? i.e. modular sections / units / things on casters etc

[Kurt]

I've recorded a few albums worth of drums in my spare bedroom... The only soundproofing I have done is to screw a slab of 16mm MDF over the window. Daytime hours only for drums, no complaints so far...

My hope is to build a single garage and move my "studio" into it now that we own the house. Unfortunately, being new home owners, money is tight!

[ether]

Excellent thread.

I decided to blow my budget on gear rather than a room, and to use other's studios as needed. Living in a 4th floor apartment didn't leave me much of a choice anyway.

I'd love to drop in again soon with some beers and check your place Gareth. Still got my eye on it as a local tracking space for various things, including drums with Chris W. who I've met a few times now

I had a look recently at the 301 rent-a-studios for 2K/month and wanted to see how yours compare, and check out your mic cupboard.

Cheers,

[Linear]

I honestly think if you do a cost/benefit analysis on ANY studio at any point, now or in history, it's never really made sound financial sense.

That's the thing about music - you don't go into it rationally, and if everyone did then NOTHING would ever get done. You do it because you're passionate about it, because it's art and because you'd rather do this than get a sh!tty job shuffling papers around and attending pointless meetings appeasing useless managers that don't know jack.

If you have the money - then back yourself and spend everything you have on it. If you don't have the money, then start saving. The worst thing you can do is borrow money to build a studio.

If you start talking about build costs for studios INCLUDING gear - then the sky's the limit. I reckon my little mix room cost me around $5000 per square metre... go figure.

Chris

[ChrisW]

I read a recent Todd Rundgren interview talking about his set up in Hawaii. He doesn't see the point in a studio any more. He works in any room in his house. If he needs to do drums, or something else big/noisy, he books a local studio for a day.
I like having my studio (spare bedroom, electronics based set up) personally, but I think the costs associated make owning a full on studio a much tougher road to go down these days.

Actually, my living room turned out to be great for drums, but I made a pact with my better half when we bought this place that the living spaces wouldn't become studios. I could set up on a project by project basis, but it's hard to set levels anew when you are both playing and engineering. The people I know who play and engineer have everything set and leave.

[Linear]

oh and I'm not sure who said it (I think Bob Ohlsson?) - that successful studios are in the property business, not the studio business.

so well done gareth ;-0

Chris

[ChrisW]

I honestly think if you do a cost/benefit analysis on ANY studio at any point, now or in history, it's never really made sound financial sense.

That's the thing about music - you don't go into it rationally, and if everyone did then NOTHING would ever get done.

I disagree.
If I was 25, with 30 to 40 years of work ahead of me, building a drum tracking room at home would make much more sense.
It's one thing I learnt from farming (which I dabbled in).
If you spend $50,000 on infrastructure, but only profit $1000 annually from your crop, you're going to be working for free for 50 years. It's easily done.... I mean over capitalising with no prospect of ever going into clear profit.
If the studio is a hobby, and you earn a living elsewhere, then obviously the cost factors are completely different.

[Linear]

yes but if you were 25 (and hence just starting out) how the hell would you know that you have 30 or 40 years of work ahead of you? you're making that statement in hindsight.

not to mention that $80k when you're 25 is a hell of a lot more money that $80k when you're 50. when I was 25 $80K was nearly 4 years work!

and how many people at 25 have the intention of making a career out of music but go on to do other things?

when I built my studio, I had NO idea i'd still be there 10 years later. it was a big gamble, and even the gracious and wise Mr O'Neil told me that I was wasting my money and that I'd be closed within a year.

[The Tasmanian]

I just chuck my gear in a room, hang up the odd baffle and that's it. Get to work.
For me 90% of the time I don't even want a reverberant tracking space. A carpeted room/booth will do for most tasks.
My current "studio" I spent $138 on insulation for a section of my floor. Control room finished!
Under 5k to build a tall 5mx5m with room to track in - from scratch.
But the only sound issues I have to deal with about 4 cars going past in a day, and the bird life.

My next build I am trying to do it really low cost by getting 2 shipping containers, and building a 80 Sq M studio using the containers to support a tall roof. Containers then become Amp booths.
Hoping to do it for 20k. 95% all my labour.
Trying to build it fireproof as well!

My fave of all studio designs is one big room, band and console in the same space, 2 booths for amps if played too loud.
Everyone together making music. Its amazing how much more connected to the band and music you are by being in the same room. It is a hassle for monitoring, but you soon learn to do it successfully.
Anything needing adjustment and you only need to walk over and do it.
Plus - you don't need headphones, they are a choice not an imperative.
You are in the music - a part of the performance, and your judgements are heightened because you are with the players experiencing the takes, and it is also really exhilarating compared to being in some room between layers of glass.

I have to do a session at Real World one day!
Chris W - you must have recorded there?